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Valentine’s Day is almost here! Do you know what you’re doing to make the day extra special for your kids? If you haven’t made any plans yet, we’ve come up with a great list of activities and gift ideas to help your family celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14.

Valentine’s Day Activities

Valentine’s Day is a great way for children and adults to celebrate the people they care about and love, so be sure you take the time to celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family with these four fun activities:

1. Celebrate the Color Red

People associate Valentine’s Day and love with the color red, so make it an emphasis in your household on Valentine’s Day. Encourage everyone to wear something red and decorate your house with red-themed decorations. You can even eat red foods, such as strawberries, cherries, cranberries, tomatoes, watermelon, strawberry jelly (on a PB&J), marinara sauce, or red velvet cake, that day to complete the theme.

2. Focus on Three Important Words: I Love You

Come up with a creative way to tell your kids you love them. Stick a handwritten note or special card in their book bags or somewhere in their room, for example, or schedule time during the day to spend time together doing their favorite activity. You could also make a special message for them in your backyard with rocks, sea shells, or other materials. To make Valentine’s Day even more fun, come up with a scavenger hunt for children to do in order for them to find their special Valentine’s message or surprise.

3. Create Unique Valentine’s Day Cards

Creating handmade DIY Valentine’s Day cards is a great way for families to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re making them for family, friends, or each other, putting your family’s own special twist on Valentine’s Day cards will make them unique and memorable for both the sender and recipient. Visit Pinterest for a great selection of fun ideas for Valentine’s Day cards for kids.

4. I Love You Ritual Bib Set (Set of 3)- You can connect with your kids and help them increase their attention skills and brain development by telling them the different rhymes embroidered on each bib.

5. I Love You Rituals- This book features 79 activities you can do with your kids to teach them how to be kind and help build self-esteem.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is an iconic American hero and civil rights leader who helped bring social and political changes to America, which is one of the reasons we honor King and his legacy every year on the third Monday in January. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day provides parents and caregivers with an excellent opportunity to encourage children to accept and understand differences between people and cultures.

Facts to Share with Kids

We found a great article that discusses King’s life and accomplishments on The History Channel website. Here are a few facts from the article you can share with your kids on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1986.

King believed in peaceful protest and was an advocate of nonviolence.

He played a critical role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which were major events that influenced the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is considered one of the most memorable and influential speeches of all time.

King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts in the civil rights movement.

You can also talk with older children about how King was fatally shot in 1968 while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis. If younger children ask about what happened to King, keep your responses simple and relatively easy for young kids to understand.

Three Ways to Encourage Equality and Acceptance

Peace, nonviolence, equality, and acceptance were all important principles and concepts of the civil rights movement and King’s own legacy. All of these principles and concepts are still important for children to learn due to the diversity in people and culture they encounter every day. Here are three ways you can encourage your children to be open-minded, understanding, and accepting of people’s differences:

1. Teach children about diversity, the history of the civil rights movement, and Martin Luther King, Jr. by reading books about those topics and asking them their opinion about what they read. All the Colors We Are, for example, gives children a scientific explanation of how our skin color is determined by a variety of factors while also addressing the myths and stereotypes that people often associate with a person’s skin color. Children can learn about the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with the Holiday Book Series, and our At Home with Diversity Book Set can help children further their understanding of differences.

3. Encourage children to express and share the differences they see in the world with multicultural art activities. Children can draw and create posters and pictures, for example, of the diversity they see in their own homes and communities. These types of activities will help children further explore and understand biological and cultural differences, which will ultimately help further King’s vision of equality and acceptance.

There’s a reason the holiday season is called the most wonderful time of the year, so make sure your family goes out and enjoys the special holiday events for kids and families that occur near your neighborhood. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1. Go caroling as a family. Many church groups and other community organizations plan special nights to go caroling in the community. Sign your family up to go with one of these groups or create your own caroling group if no one is planning one in your community.

2. Take a family sleigh ride. Sleigh rides are often offered at winter festivals and other events. This is a great family activity and an excellent opportunity to teach your children about holiday traditions. Your family can even sing “Jingle Bells” and other fun Christmas carols as you ride in the sleigh.

3. Drive or walk through a light festival with your family. Children and adults both love to look at Christmas lights, which makes going to a light festival the perfect family activity for the holidays. Ask children what they think about the light displays and go for hot chocolate afterwards to spend more time together as a family.

4. Take your kids to special events at your local bookstore, library, art store, or children’s museum. Many bookstores and libraries have special holiday storytimes and activities for both kids and adults. Also check with your local art store and children’s museum to see if they are going to have any special holiday crafts or exhibits for kids.

5. Attend your community’s Christmas parade, Christmas tree lighting, or other holiday events. This is a great opportunity for your children to learn about the people in their community. Involving your children in community events also helps build a good foundation for teaching them about charity and volunteering.

6. Take your kids to see holiday concerts and plays, such as The Nutcracker. Holiday concerts and plays provide wonderful opportunities to teach your children about culture. If you attend a concert, ask children to point out the different instruments that they have at home. Music toys that are similar to the instruments they see also make excellent holiday gifts for kids.

7. Come up with your own holiday event at home. If you have young children or are watching your budget this year, create your own special holiday concert or play at home. You can perform a family play with puppets and puppet theaters, for example, or you can have your own holiday parade by everyone dressing up as different characters.

8. Take your kids to see Santa and encourage them to write him a letter. If your family takes part in Christmas, find a mall or other location that has times where children can come see Santa. This will create fun memories for children each Christmas. Writing letters to Santa is also a wonderful family time activity and will help put everyone in the Christmas spirit.

9. Help your kids track Santa on Christmas Eve. Children will enjoy keeping track of Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve with the improved Santa Tracker website from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The new website counts down the time until Christmas and lets children digitally visit the North Pole to learn about NORAD’s mission and how they track Santa. Children can also play a variety of fun holiday games on the website with a new game released daily. Keep in mind that tracking Santa on Christmas Eve is also an excellent opportunity for children to learn about geography in a fun way.

Are you working with a budget this holiday season? Or are you searching for gifts that your kids and family will find meaningful? Handmade and homemade items are the perfect way for you to provide meaningful and budget-friendly gifts for all of the people on your holiday list. Making items at home and purchasing handmade items will also help teach your children that it’s the thought that counts.

You don’t have to give expensive presents for people to know that you care about and value them. Small, inexpensive gifts that show you put some thought into what to buy or make someone can have just as much or more value than extravagant gifts. This is a great lesson for kids to learn because it gives them experiences and ideas they can compare to the materialistic world they encounter every day.

If you decide to make your own homemade gifts or purchase affordable handmade gifts this year, make an effort to include your kids as much as possible because experiences like these will help children understand the value of budgeting and being thoughtful. Children will enjoy the opportunity to be creative as they practice and develop new skills while helping you get ready for the holidays. Be sure to browse our art section for any art and craft supplies you may need. Here are a few budget-and-kid-friendly tips to keep in mind as you plan your holiday gift list:

1. Have your kids make holiday cards instead of buying them this year. This is a great creative project for kids because it will keep them engaged and make them feel like they are contributing something to your family’s holiday planning. It will also save you money because greeting cards can be expensive.

2. Come up with DIY presents you or your kids can make for the people on your holiday gift list. The popular book 101 Great Gifts Kids Can Make provides unique gift ideas that children ages three to eight can make for family members, teachers, and other special people in their lives. The book is available in paperback and eBook formats. You can also browse Pinterest to find other ideas for gifts your kids can make and homemade gifts you can make for your kids.

3. Visit holiday festivals and fairs to find affordable handmade items. Some handmade items can be expensive, but you should be able to find a number of local artists and companies that sell their work for reasonable prices. Holiday festivals are also a great place to take the kids!

4. Make cookies, cakes, and other treats to give as gifts. This is a fairly inexpensive and enjoyable way to give gifts. People who are extremely busy at this time of the year or can no longer bake their own cookies will enjoy receiving homemade treats. Baking is also a great way to teach your kids about nutrition, measuring, and counting as you spend time as a family.

5. If you don’t have time to make something homemade, look for budget-friendly items in stores and online. Kaplan Toys offers a variety of fun and educational items that can fit in any budget. Browse our Great Gifts for Under $10 and Great Gifts for Under $20 to find affordable gifts that your kids will love.

Does your child say thank you when they receive a gift or someone does something nice for them? Or do they complain that it wasn’t what they wanted or say nothing at all? Thankfulness is a common topic in schools and at home this time of the year, but being grateful shouldn’t be something you discuss only during the holidays. A child will never learn the true value of being grateful if it is not reinforced throughout the year. Keep in mind that gratefulness isn’t a skill people have when they are born, so a child’s ability to count their blessings must be taught and nurtured.

Benefits of Being Grateful

In addition to having good manners, children and adults who frequently feel grateful experience numerous benefits. As reported by Melinda Beck in The Wall Street Journal, recent studies have shown that kids who are grateful “tend to be less materialistic, get better grades, set higher goals, complain of fewer headaches and stomach aches and feel more satisfied with their friends, families, and schools” than kids who are not grateful. These findings are great indicators of how important it is to teach children to be grateful, especially since many of the benefits children gain from being grateful carry over into adulthood. In her Wall Street Journal article,Beck also shares how being grateful can positively influence an adult’s health, relationships, and overall success due to the following factors:

Grateful adults generally feel happier and have increased energy, optimism, and social connections.

They also have a lesser chance of becoming depressed, envious, greedy, or dependent on alcoholic beverages.

In addition to these benefits, grateful adults have higher incomes, sleep better, exercise more often, and have better immune systems.

These scientific findings prove that knowing how to say a sincere thank you and being grateful for what you have can positively impact every aspect of your life as a child and as an adult.

Raising a Grateful Child

Helping kids understand the concept of being grateful will be something you need to reinforce through constant practice and nurturing. Children who are young or very shy may be especially reluctant to share their gratitude, which may be frustrating for parents. If children don’t express their thanks when appropriate, say it for them. As you teach children about gratitude, be patient and remember that being grateful is something that both children and adults have difficulty in mastering. Here are five great tips you can use to encourage and teach gratitude in your family:

1. Be a good role model for your kids. Children learn by example, so make sure you are making an effort to be grateful in your own life. Try to think and talk positively about difficult situations and people you may not like.2. Practice being grateful as a family. Take time to discuss what each person in the family is grateful for daily or weekly. This is a great reminder of what individual family members and the family as a whole can be thankful for throughout the year.3. Teach children the value of a sincere thank you. Knowing how to express a sincere thank you will help children make an impression now and in the future. People want to be appreciated for what they do, and acknowledging even the simplest things will help people think more positively of a person.4. Find alternative ways for children to say thank you. Try to come up with creative and engaging ways to help encourage children to say thank you. Have them draw pictures or do a craft to give someone as a thank you, for example, or teach them to say thank you in sign language or another language.5. Provide opportunities for children to practice and learn about being grateful. A few of the toys children play with and the books they read should promote thankfulness in some way. Greta the Grateful Goldfishis one example of a children’s book that helps kids learn about being grateful. Also encourage children to say thank you when they pretend play or ask if their favorite toys and stuffed animals know how to say thank you.

Gratitude helps foster charity, so encourage children to give back as you teach them about gratitude. Be on the lookout for our upcoming blog post about teaching children the importance of giving back. We hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving!

There’s a chill in the air and the daylight hours are getting shorter, which means the holidays are fast approaching. Pretty soon you’ll drive by a house lit up with Christmas lights and see Christmas trees for sale in store parking lots. You’ll start planning holiday dinners, putting up Christmas decorations, and scouring advertisements for the best deals (pssst, don’t forget to check our website). You’ll even make lists of what activities and traditions you want to do as a family because, after all, the best holidays are filled with anticipation and fun. Whether you’re looking to create new holiday traditions or are looking forward to your favorites, we have some great ideas for ways to build excitement and anticipation for the holiday season!

1. Adopt an Elf on the Shelf

“You better watch out / you better not cry / you better not pout / I’m telling you why…”

–“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (Fred Coots & Haven Gillespie)

Ever wondered how Santa knows if children are naughty or nice? He has his own little helpers, of course! Santa lets families adopt special elves every year to help him know which children need to go on the naughty and nice lists. When an elf is adopted by a family and given a name, the elf gains special Christmas magic that helps it fly to the North Pole every night to give Santa a daily report on the kids’ behavior. The elf then returns to its family and moves to a different observation spot each morning.

There are a couple rules every family must know when they adopt an elf:

They may only touch the elf when absolutely necessary because the elf may lose its magic if it is touched.

The elf will not speak, leave, or move until everyone in the house is asleep.

Adopted elves usually appear in homes at the beginning of the holiday season and then return to the North Pole on Christmas Eve until the start of next year’s holiday season. A timeless holiday classic, the Elf on the Shelf and its crazy antics will help fill your household with delight and laughter this holiday season.

2. Count Down to the Holidays!

Build excitement for the holidays and help your children learn and develop skills with LEGO® Advent Calendars. Each 2013 holiday advent calendar comes with 24 gifts and objects in individual compartments, which allows children to open and build a new item each day until Christmas. LEGO® Advent Calendars help children learn about the holidays and increase their manual dexterity, creativity, and problem solving skills. These calendars are also fun ways to spend time as a family during the holidays.

LEGO® City Advent Calendar

Perfect for children ages 5 years & up, LEGO® City Advent Calendar features opening windows that include 24 buildable gifts, such as a Christmas tree, sled, fireplace, snowman, and 8 minifigures.

Build decorations and prepare for the holidays in Heartlake City with the LEGO® Friends Advent Calendar. This set includes Stephanie and Lily minifigures and a calendar with 24 buildable gifts, such as Stephanie’s snow scooter, a Christmas tree, snowman, ice skates, and sled.

Our popular LEGO® Building Plates can also help bring your advent calendar to life by allowing you to create, organize, and store your advent calendar gifts as you build them.

3. Have a Holiday Reading Tradition

Get your family in the holiday spirit by reading holiday books, which is also a great way to build children’s literacy skills and interest in reading. This is an activity that the whole family can enjoy due to the fond memories holiday stories invoke. If you have young children, try to read them a holiday story at bedtime each night. If the children in your family are older, however, have everyone pick out their favorite holiday stories and either take turns reading them or have a designated holiday story reader. We recommend The Polar Express and The Twelve Days of Christmas as two great books to include in your holiday reading.

Plan a family trip to the library to check out books to read at Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas.

If you don’t have a collection of holiday and winter books, start a collection of them for all ages. Enjoy them during the holiday season, but then put them away in a special container until next year.

Listen to a holiday audio book while you are baking cookies or decorating the tree.

For more holiday reading traditions and book suggestions, check out the Family Reading Partnership’s e-brochure on holiday reading. Another great resource is readkiddoread.com, which is author James Patterson’s non-profit website that promotes literacy and helps parents find ways to encourage their children to read.

4. Make Creative, Delicious Treats

Many holiday traditions are tied to food or the preparation of food. Perhaps your family serves a particular meal or side dish every year at Thanksgiving or Christmas, for example, or your whole family congregates at one person’s house to fix Christmas Eve dinner. Whatever your holiday food traditions are, be sure that your traditions include foods and recipes that children can appreciate and help prepare. You can even incorporate a math lesson into the festivities by having kids count candies or measure ingredients!

Children love making gingerbread houses and baking and decorating cookies at this time of the year, so try to schedule a weekend for the family to make some holiday treats. If you like the idea of making a gingerbread house but don’t want to go to the trouble of actually making the gingerbread, try our Candy Cottage Party Pack. It includes a 4-pack of re-usable plastic gingerbread houses that your family can decorate for Christmas, Halloween, or any another occasion. All you need is some icing, candy, and cereal to start decorating them with after you snap the pieces together.

Baking and decorating cookies is also a fun holiday tradition that you and your kids can do together. Your family could even participate in a cookie swap with other families in your neighborhood as another fun holiday activity. Remember that cookies don’t necessarily have to be homemade for kids to enjoy decorating them, especially if you have time constraints on the activities you can do as a family. Just be sure to make some cookies you can leave out for Santa!

If someone in your family is diabetic or allergic to an ingredient used to make cookies or gingerbread, you can still enjoy the favorite sweet treats of the holiday season. Our Counting Cookies™ Jar and Gingerbread Sort and Snap Cookies can help you spend time as a family and help kids learn to count, recognize colors and patterns, and develop fine motor skills.

5. Decorate Your Space for the Holidays

Decorating for the holidays is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the holiday season. Most people love decorating their Christmas tree or setting up a holiday display in their front yard, but many of those decorations aren’t very kid friendly. Be sure your kids are included in the decorating stage of the holidays by having them either pick out decorations or make their own homemade decorations.

One decorating idea is to buy or make a holiday ornament for each child to put on your Christmas tree every year. You can also have them trace their hand to create the outline of a turkey, which they can then color and decorate. Another easy craft for children is to draw or cut out a snowflake design and then color and decorate it with glitter. Crafts like these are great for children to do while on break from school or when they have to stay indoors due to bad weather. Be sure to check out our Art section for all of your art and craft needs!

We’re fast approaching the time of year when you’re likely to see little ghosts, goblins, witches, and princesses roaming around town to look for a treat. Halloween is a favorite holiday for many children (and parents). Pretending to be a scary monster or sweet fairy is the epitome of fun for children, and the free candy certainly doesn’t lessen children’s excitement for the holiday. Choosing or creating a costume, decorating pumpkins, making a scarecrow or fall display, and trick-or-treating are just a few of the reasons why people look forward to October 31 every year.

Costume Fun

Picking out costumes for Halloween with your children can be tricky since there are so many options to choose from each year. Google and Yahoo recently released their lists of the most searched for Halloween costumes in 2013. Minion, Batman, Minnie Mouse, pirate, Alice in Wonderland, zombie, vampire, Hello Kitty, and cat costumes are just a few of the popular costumes listed.

Try picking out a costume that children can add to their dress up closet and use to play dress up in all year round. Picking a multipurpose costume helps you save money and encourages children to use their imagination as they pretend play. Kaplan Toys offers a variety of quality Dress Up Fun costumes that children can use again at all times of the year. Career, dance, and multicultural costumes are just a few of the costumes featured in our selection.

Safety Tips

Be sure to put reflective tape on top of your child’s costume if they are not wearing reflective clothing on Halloween night. Don’t let the excitement of Halloween distract your family from taking safety precautions. Here are a few other tips for Halloween safety:

Be sure that costumes, shoes, and other accessories are the correct length and size to ensure that kids can see where they are going and do not trip or fall.

Costume accessories should be soft and flexible to prevent any accidental injuries.

Be sure to remove any choking hazards and to wear flame-resistant costumes.

Go trick-or-treating in groups.

Consider trunk-or-treats as an alternative to trick-or-treating in a neighborhood.

Take a flashlight with you, especially if you are going to be out after dusk.

Only trick-or-trick at well-lit houses or at trunk-or-treats.

Make sure your child knows to not accept candy from someone without parent or guardian permission.

Tell your children to not eat any candy that has been tampered with or opened.

Do not let your children snack while they are trick-or-treating unless you look to make sure that what they are eating has not been tampered with or opened.

~Sweet Treat~

Caramel or chocolate-covered apples are great sweet treats to make and enjoy with your children during this time of the year. You can even encourage your kids to eat fruit and nuts with this delicious dessert or snack! Have your children help you prepare the apples and toppings, and tell them about your favorite Halloween memories as a kid as you work on the apples together. The following recipe makes 5-6 caramel or chocolate-covered apples. Enjoy!

Pick what toppings you want on your caramel or chocolate-covered apples. Mini M&M’s, chopped nuts, crushed cookies, coconut, and sprinkles are all great toppings. Prepare the toppings you choose and place them into individual bowls.

3. Prepare chocolate or caramel

Melt chocolate baking chips or caramel bits in the microwave according to directions on the packaging.

4. Dip the apples in chocolate or caramel

Use a spoon to help cover the apple in chocolate or caramel if you can’t get it all covered. Be sure to let the excess chocolate or caramel drip off or gently scrape some of the excess off at the bottom before you move to the next step.

5. Roll the apples in toppings

Roll the apples in your favorite toppings. Be sure to try different combinations. You may need to press the toppings in some with your hand to ensure that they stick to the apple. Place the apple on wax paper once you’ve finished adding the toppings. Refrigerating the caramel or chocolate apples for 15-30 minutes may help the chocolate or caramel harden faster. You can also drip melted chocolate onto the caramel apple or vice versa as another topping option.